Chapter Three - Gotei 13

Ryoko stood in the doorway, eyes wide in shock. Everything looked old, but not old either. The many square houses being made of stone, with orange, tipped roofs. In the middle if the houses, far away, were very large circular pillars and towers. She assumed that it's where the important people might be. She turned to her left, seeing the Sogyoku Hill slightly. From her angle, the area seemed much larger than it really is. She looked up at Captain Ukitake for a moment, then looking forward once more. She jumped when she saw a couple Soul Reapers rush toward them.

"Captain Ukitake!" They shouted. Ryoko quickly hid behind said Captain and gripped the back of his haori tightly. These men had the same outfit as the one who had attacked her, making her frightened. She still didn't know whether they could be trusted r not, but the Captain seemed just fine around them. "Did you get the rogue?" One asked as they stopped in front of him.

"Yes," He replied, then looked back at Ryoko and smiled. "Don't worry, they won't hurt you."

She looked up at Ukitake then nodded, slowly moving halfway out of hiding, but still holing onto the haori.

The two looked at her in confusion. "Captain, why did you bring a little girl here?" The other one asked, very confused.

"This is Ryoko. She was attacked by the rogue. She only has a few minor injuries, but I still want to have her checked by Captain Unohana." He said briefly, then he started to walk to said person's Squad, Squad 4, with Ryoko right behind him. Many of the Reapers they passed though it was cute. Almost like the Captain had his own Yachiru. They kept walking for a bit, the area around them staying the same, and many Soul Reapers they passed turned and bowed to them. She looked up at Ukitake, thinking.

Why are they bowing? Is it because of this man?

As she looked forward, the little girl saw a very strange sight: a man with the same clothes as Ukitake, but he had a weird floral pink kimono over it as well as a straw hat on him. He walked toward them with a smile on his face.

"Hey Jushiro!" He called out, waving to the Captain as he stopped in front of him. "How's it going? I suspect the mission was a success?"

"Yes. He wasn't as strong as we had thought, though."

"Ah, that's because you're a captain and he wasn't even a 10th seat. Ol' Man Yama went too far with sending you out." it was then the man realized a hand clenching Ukitake's arm. "Huh? What's this?"

"This is Ryoko. I saved her from the rogue. Although…" He turned to the little blue-haired Yachiru, "I guess it must have startled her to see others wearing a Soul Reaper uniform."

The man chuckled, then knelt down. "Hey, don't be scared. The people in this place are very nice and wouldn't hurt you."

Ryoko looked at the man before slowly inching toward him, tilting her head slightly, but her head also tilted down ever so slightly. "…You look weird." She said suddenly, catching the man off guard.

"Hey now, that isn't very nice to say to someone you barely met…" He exclaimed, holding out his hand for a handshake. "My name is Captain Shunshui Kyoraku. It's nice to meet you." Instead of shaking his hand, though, she went back to Ukitake. Shunsui frowned for a moment then stood and looked at his Captain friend. "Uh, you may need to take her to Captain Unohana. Her neck is bleeding."

Ukitake's eyes widened and he turned to see that he was right: Ryoko's neck was bleeding from the cut she received, and it opened a bit more as she looked up to the Captain each time. He could see she was starting to get light headed. "Oh no." He picked the child up carefully in his arms and looked at Shunsui before using Shunpo to get to the gate of Squad 4. There, he stopped, but still held the girl firmly, but not enough to hurt her. The gates opened, showing a woman with short silver hair, with some strands of long hair, and she looked like the other Soul Reapers with the exception of a badge on her arm. She looked alarmed.

"Captain Ukitake! What's the matt—" She started.

Ukitake cut her off. "This girl is hurt. I'll fill you in later Lieutenant, but right now I'd rather this girl doesn't die via cut in the throat."

The Lieutenant simply nodded then turned and started walking quickly. "I'll show you to her room."

They got to the room and Ukitake set her down. She, of course, was slightly confused by this. All of this was happening so fast… Her little mind couldn't process it all. "Do not worry, Ryoko." He smiles reassuringly. "Captain Unohana is very nice and is going to help you, okay?" The girl nodded and lied down. By now, she lost a good amount of blood, and was feeling really light headed. She looked toward the door in front of her, and saw the Lieutenant talking with another Soul Reaper without a badge or a white haori, but couldn't quite make out what she was saying. The man then left, and the woman turned to talk to Captain Ukitake. She tried to keep her eyes open even slightly, but her eyelids grew heavier and heavier every second. Yeah she had a small cut, but the more she had moved the neck, the more it opened and the more blood spilled. She closed her eyes to take her mind off the spinning room. She was scared, too. She understood that the cut was is one of the worst spots to get cut. But why hadn't they noticed before that she was bleeding? Then again, the Captain didn't look down and inspect it. He must have thought the cut wasn't that deep. But that doesn't explain her ignorance of it. She was taught by her father on things like this… and from what he said, a cut to the throat should have killed her. But she was already dead, she thought… At lest, that would explain something… maybe? How does that work? All these questions flooded her mind making her even dizzier. She started losing consciousness. But before she lost consciousness, she saw something in the void of darkness that was sweeping her away. She didn't understand what it was. It was a blur, and it was very distant. The 'thing' roared loudly, like a tiger's roar. Suddenly she felt hot, a wave of heat washing over her and making her sweat slightly. Blue flames erupted around the white and blue dot, and it roared again. But this time, when it roared it sent a huge wave of flames toward her. They got dangerously close… then she fell unconscious. Completely unaware of the conversation taking place outside of her mind.

Hey guys! Sorry this chapter went kinda fast. (At least I think it did, but I didn't know how to "slow it down".) But yeah. Hope you guys like it! OwO And if anyone wants to give me constructive criticism, then I

m all ears! Thanks!